34 
Transactions of the Boyal Society of South Africa. 
Between stones on the slopes of the Nieuwveld Mountains near 
Beaufort West. Flowering in January. Altitude : 1,200 m. Marloth, 
No. 4689. 
AIZOACE^. 
Mesembeianthemum deseeticolum, spec. nov. (Sect. 42 Cymbiformia.) 
Planta depressa, suffruticosa, paullum ramosa, foliis subalbidis, basi 
connatis, trigono-inflatis, ovoideis, obtusis, marginibus rotundis. Flores 
terminales solitarii, breviter stipitati. Sepala 4, inaequalia; petala 
linearia, alba; styli 5-6. 
Plant depressed, forming lumps a few inches in diam., often a few 
slightly elongated branches spreading on the ground. Leaves nearly 
egg-shaped, but slightly prismatic, the three faces convex, the angles 
very rounded, especially the lower one, which may be hardly indicated. 
Epidermis smooth, white (in the wild plant). In cultivation the new 
leaves are more elongated and green. 
Near M. trichotomum, Thunb., but leaves much larger, 12-16 mm. long. 
On rocky ground near Angra Pequena, in Great Namaqualand. 
Flowering in September. Marloth, No. 4688. (See Fig. 5.) 
Mesembeianthemum Maelothii, Pax. (Amended description.) Sect. 
Bostellata (Berger, p. 115). 
The original diagnosis of this species was based on sterile specimens 
collected in 1886 by the author (Engler's Botan. Jahrb., 1888, vol. x., 
p. 13). 
Flowers solitary, terminal, sessile, supported by two leaves, which are 
fringed like the others. Sepals 5, fringed like the leaves, obovate, pointed ; 
petals white, numerous, connate at base, linear, recurving above, the 
upright part being 7 mm., the recurved portion 3 mm. long. Stamens- 
15-20 ; stigmas 5. 
Very frequent on rocky as well as sandy ground in the littoral belt 
(Namib) of Great Namaqualand. Flowering in spring. Marloth, 
No. 4676. 
The fringe of hairs around the apex of the older leaves originates in a 
peculiar way. The young leaves are shortly cylindrical and surrounded 
at their upper third by a ring of retrorse, fully turgescent hairs, which 
may be looked upon as elongated papillae, pointing downwards. Later on 
the apex of the leaf shrivels and leaves the fringe of hairs on the leaf in 
organic connection with the remaining part. The origin and structure of 
these hairs indicate that they assist in the absorption of dew and water 
